Arctic Design Initiative Exhibition

University of Virginia

“The Arctic Design Initiative, formed in 2012 at the UVA School of Architecture, is an interdisciplinary design research platform that explores architectural, urban and ecological futures of the rapidly changing arctic. It is the first of its kind in the U.S. and one of only a handful of programs worldwide to link design with natural and social science studies of the region.

The exhibition, which kick-starts and shares this effort with the School and the University, is a snapshot of collective research produced in the past year via fieldwork, conferences, and courses offered at the UVA School of Architecture, involving a wide array of arctic experts, colleagues and institutions, at home and abroad, as well as our undergraduate- and graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students.

The eclectic narratives of the presented work show that the arctic is a dynamic, transnational, connected and contested region. Reinforced by the fast rate of climate change and globalization, it is rushing into a new, unprecedented era where its environmental, political, economic and cultural trajectories are unknown and must be tested. At this critical moment, the exhibition examines a range of issues, challenges and opportunities that are currently shaping and will continue to influence the region, as well as their long-term impact on its unique landscapes.” 

~ Co-Directors, Arctic Design Initiative:

Matthew Jull, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Architecture

Leena Cho, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture

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